Speed control device



NOV. 28, D H D SPEED CONTROL DEVICE Filed May 14, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet lq 4 Z A TO .5 TAR TER'AND BA T! TO'S TARTER DEMPS 0N H. REED.

INVENTOR BY M BU f ATTORNEYS Nov. 28, 1933. H REED 1,936,993

SPEED CONTROL DEVICE Filed May 14, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmpsozv H.REED.

lNVENTOR BY %b.w-

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 28, 1933 PATENT OFFICE SPEED CONTROL DEVICEDempson H. Reed, Houston, Tex.

Application May 14, 1931.

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a. device for controlling the speed of operationof vehicles operated by an internal combustion motor.

It is an object of the invention to provide an attachment fora motordriven vehicle which will limit the speed at which the vehicle may bedriven. I desire to provide a positive control for the vehicle whichwill prevent the driver thereof from operating the vehicle at a speedabove a desired maximum limit.

I aim to provide a device operated through the rotation of a shaft uponthe vehicle which vwillcontrol the fuel supply to the engine in suchmanner that the speed of rotation of said shaft 16 may be limited.

I further desire to provide additional means which on the failure of thefuel control will operate to prevent proper combustion of the fuel andthus also limit the speed of rotation of said shaft. 7

- In the drawings herewith the upper portion of sheet 1 illustrates alongitudinal section through my control device as attached to thespeedometer shaft. The lower part of the drawings indicated at Fig. 2 isa transverse section through the'inlet to the'carburetor showing themanner in which the feeding of fuel to the engine is controlled.

Fig. 3 is a. transverse'section on the plane 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the inner face of the plate secured in thehousing in my control member.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the valve shaft of the carburetorshowing the valve discs in end elevation. I

In the portion of the drawings indicated as Fig; 2 the casing of thecarburetor is shown at lfthe inlet therethrough being indicated at 2.Said inlet has a butterfly valve 3 thereon secured to a shaft 4extending diametrically across the inlet tube 5. Said shaft has a lever6 at one end in the usual manner through which an attachment may be maderunning to the throttle lever connected with the accelerator. On theother end of the shaft is a small electric motor '7. As will .be seenfrom Fig. 2, there are in fact two valve discs 3. One of them shown at 3in 0 Fig. 5 is secured directly to the shaft 4. The other disc indicatedat 3' is mounted upon a sleeve 8, which is rotatable upon the shaft 4and is secured to the shaft 9 of the motor. The shaft 4 extends into thesleeve 8 but is not connected directly to the motor shaft 9. This willbe unde Serial No. 537,340

stood from Fig. 2. A lever 10 upon the sleeve 8 allows control thereofunder normal circumstances which tends to hold the valve in a positionin which the desired amount of fuel is allowed to pass to thecarburetor. The tension on this lever may be overcome, however, by theoperation of the motor so as to throw the valve 3 into a positionclosing or nearly closing the passage 5 independently of the position ofthe valve disc 3.

The operation of the motor is controlled by the structure shown inFig. 1. Said control device includes an outer casing A, which includes atubular housing member 11 closed at its open end by means of a plate orcap 12, the two parts of the housing being held together by screws 13.Said housing is cylindrical and has longitudinal projections 14 and 16at the opposite ends thereof, said projections furnishing a support foran axial shaft 15.

The extension 14 has an interior threaded socket which receives a gland1'7 bearing against the packing 18 to make a fluid tight closure aboutthe reduced extension 19 on the shaft 15. Said extension projects fromthe casing within a socket 20 in the shaft 21 which operates thespeedometer. This shaft is ordinarily connected with the transmissionand in this instance the said shaft has a bearing within a nipple 22 onthe transmission housing 23. Said nipple 22 is connected with the outerend of the gland 17 by means within or coupling 24. -As will be seenfrom the drawings, the shaft 19 is keyed within the socket 20 of thetransmission shaft 21 by the key 25.

Within the housing and adjacent the transmission end thereof is a disc26 which fits within the cylindrical housing and is connected therewithby screws 27, the upper one of which also serves as a binding post. Theouter end of said post is connected within a circuit 29 by means of theclamping nuts 30. Said screw is insulated from the housing by means of athimble 31 fitting about the bolt within the opening in the housing. Aswill be seen from Fig. 4, there are two screws 27 on opposite sides ofthe disc 26. Each of the screws projects into a groove or recess 32extending across the disc in a line parallel with a similar oppositegroove 32. They serve to secure within said grooves 32 and 32' springarms 33 and 33' respectively. Said spring arms have contact points 34 attheir free ends, said contact points extending outwardly beyond the faceof the plate 26 for contact with the end plates of a rotating 9 0 35.

There is a plate identical with plate 26 at the opposite end of thehousing 11, this plate being indicated by the numer 36. It has a pair ofopposite screws 3'7 therethrough, the outer end of one of which isconnected to the circuit 29 as will be obvious from the drawings. Theother of the screws 37 is connected in a circuit shown at 38. On theopposite disc 26 the lower of the screws 27' is connected in a circuitindicated at 39. The spring arms 33 upon the plate 36 are also curved sothat the contact point 34 thereon projects into the casing so as tocontact with a plate 39 upon the spool 35.

The spool 35 is rotatable within the housing with the shaft 15 uponwhich it is mounted. It has a central sleeve with radial flanges 40 ateach end to which are connected the contact plates 39 and 39. The saidplates 39 and 39 are circular in shape and are of the same diameter asthe end flanges of the spool 35. They are secured one on each end of thespool and on the outer sides of the flanges 40. They are insulatedelectrically from the spool by means of layers of mica 41 or othersimilar insulating material. They are held to the ends of the spool bymeans of screws 42 which are also insulated from the spool by thinlayers of insulating material 43 beneath the heads of the screws. Thespool has a projection 44 at one end which contacts with the plate 36and limits its movement in that direction.

The spool is slidable upon the shaft 15 and may be moved longitudinallythereon by means of a governor, the construction of which will now benoted. Each of the flanges of the spool and the plates 39 and 39 areslotted adjacent the shaft as shown at 45 in Fig. 3. This allows theprojection therethrough of spring arms 46. Said spring arms are securedat their outer ends to the shaft by means of screws 47. They projectinwardly through the openings 45 and along the tubular central portionof the spool 35. As will be seen from Fig. 1, these spring arms areattached at one end to the barrel of the spool by means of screws 49 andcarry between their ends semispherical weights 50, said weights beingsecured to the spring by projections 51 on said weights riveted throughthe body of the spring. As will be seen from Fig. 3, there are three ofthese weights secured to three separate springs so that when.saidweights are moved outwardly away from the shaft 15 by centrifugalforce of rotation they will bend the spring arms outwardly and shortentheir effective length so as to pull the spool toward the right of Fig.1 and thus vary the position of the contact plates 39 and 39 as comparedwith the contact points 34 and 34 upon the spring arms 33. v

The electrical connections may now be noted. The circuit 29 whichconnects the two screws 27 and 37 is joined to a switch member 52. Saidswitch is shown as having a circular disc with contact points 53, 54,55, 56, 57 and 58 thereon. Said disc is pivoted to rotate on the centralshaft 59. The circuit 29 is connected to the post 27.

; There is a switch member shown in dotted lines at 60 which istriangular in shape and is adapted to connect three of the contactpoints together. In the position shown in Fig. 1 when the circuit 29 isconnected t'o the post 3''! it will connect across with the bolts 54 and55. The connection is then made with a circuit 61 which leads to theammeter 62 and from thence to the starter and the battery. Conneciion isalso made through the post 55 with the circuit 63 which connects in thelights of the vehicle and includes the forward or head-lights thevehicle will be exerted by my device.

64 and the tail light 65. The switch can be rotated to connect the posts53, 54 and 56. The post 56 is connected in a circuit 66 which, as willbe seen, connects up with the induction coil 67 and the switch 68 uponthe dash-board which controls the starter. The induction coil 67 has aconnection shown at 69 leading to the distributor by means of which theoperation of the ignition to the spark plugs is controlled. The circuit38 from the control member also is connected with the induction coil 67and the circuit 69 from the control member leads to the motor 7 whichcontrols the supply of gas to the carburetor.

The operation of the device may now be noted.

When the vehicle to which this device is installed operates at a normalrate of speed no control of It is intended to' prevent the operation ofthe vehicle beyond a normal and predetermined maximum rate of speed. Itmay be set so that the valve 3' will be positioned at the proper anglein the intake opening 5 to allow a suflicient supply of gas and air torun the car at a predetermined maximum rate of speed. This valve is notwithin the control of the operator. The valve 3 which is fixed to theshaft 4 may be controlled by the operator to vary the supply of fuel upto the maximum speed which must not be exceeded.

When the vehicle attains a speed close to the maximum the speedometershaft 70, which is connected with the transmission by the shaft 19,previously described, will rotate at a speed high enough to throw thegovernor weights 50 out away from the shaft 19 a distance sufllcient tomove the spool 35 to the right and bring the end plate 39 against thecontact point 34 at the right hand of the housing. The closing of thecircuit at this point will throw in the motor 7 which will throw thebutterfly valve 3' into a position to prevent the supply of gas fromexceeding the desired amount. When the speed of the car is againreduced, the weights 50 will approach the shaft 19 again and the spool35 will be moved to the left again breaking the circuit with the motor 7and allowing operation of the car at a moderate rate.

If by any breakof the circuit the motor is not operated when the circuitis thus closed the speed of the car will move the spool still further tothe right and tend to break the contact with the spring arm 33 at theleft end of the housing and disconnect the induction coil 67 and thedistributer from the circuit including the battery and this failure ofthe ignition will slow down the car and prevent its attaining a highrate of speed beyond the desired maximum. It is to be understood thatthe contact with the arm 34 will not be entirely broken but this armwill vibrate when the spool moves away from it so that only occasionalcontact will be made causing the engine to misfire and slow down itsspeed.

When the car is running at its normal rate of speed the head-light andthe tail light will both be within the circuit and will show that thecar is operating within the speed limit.

The switch 60. may be rotated to connect the points 53, 54 and 56 andwhen thus rotated the li hts will be cut out indicating that the car isno longer under the control of my device. It will be then possible tooperate the car in the normal manner with no means to prevent itsobtaining a high rate of speed if desired. This fact will be indicatedto the observer, however, by the fact that the lights are not visible.

,The use of my device upon the ordinary vehicle will prevent its beingoperated at a speed above the desired limit. Officers patrolling thehighway will be able to note by the fact that the lights are showingthat the car is under proper control. If, however, lights are notshowing, it will be an indication that there is no control over thespeed of the vehicle beyond that of the operator and steps may be takento bring the car within the proper automatic control. This will preventspeeding and insures greater safety on the highway. The furtheradvantages will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

What'I claim as new is:

l. A device of the character described including a rotating shaft, aspool slidable longitudinsponsive to the speed of rotation of said shaftto move said spool to close said fuel control switch and, by a furthermovement, to open said ignition switch.

2. A device of the character described including a rotating shaft, aspool slidable longitudinally thereon, weighted arms each secured tosaid shaft at one end and to said spool at the other, contact membersmovable with said spool at each end of said spool, stationary contactmembers at each end of said spool, one of said stationary contactmembers being normally in contact with said spool and the other beingnormally out of contact therewith, said arms serving to move said spoolwhen the rotation of said shaft exceeds a predetermined speed, to closesaid open contact and at a still higher speed to open said closedcontact.

DEMPSON H. REED.

